1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a printer apparatus and a printer head. More particularly, the present invention relates to a printer apparatus performing a color correction.
2. Background of the Invention
Conventionally, a color recording technique according to an ink jet-type system of a printer apparatus has been practically used as a main technique for a low-price color printer because it can be simply constructed by providing each color ink to the printer apparatus.
In a serial-type printer for scanning a printer head in a main scan direction to perform a print operation, high densification to enhance the resolution of nozzles of the printer head, and increase of speed by lengthening the printer head in the auxiliary scan direction to increase the number of nozzles, are required in order to display a monochromatic or color image at high speed and with high quality.
However, since the high densification of the printer head needs enhanced precision of mechanical elements contained in the printer head, the cost of parts rise and thus the manufacturing cost is increased. Therefore, this is unsuitable to a low-cost printer.
As a countermeasure to the foregoing, there has been proposed a print system for driving the printer head in an interleave operation mode. When the printing operation is performed in the interleave operation mode, a plurality of recording heads which are designed in the same comb-shape and arranged in the main scan direction are arranged so as to be displaced from one another in the auxiliary scan direction. Such a printer head is fed in the auxiliary scan direction to successively record and fill empty portions which have not been recorded.
Japanese Patent Publication No. Hei-03-76226 (JP-B-03 76226) discloses that a printing operation is performed in an interleave mode by using a printer head in which plural color recording heads each having nozzles of N are stepwise arranged so as to be displaced from one another in an auxiliary scan direction at an interval of L dots whose number is equal to an integer times N. According to this printer apparatus, after a sufficient time lapse to dry color ink which is preferentially jetted from the nozzles, different color ink is then overlaid on the former color ink to avoid reduction in image quality due to mutual ooze between the respective color inks.
Further, there is a method of performing a recording operation while carrying out one dot-line auxiliary feeding operation in the auxiliary scan direction as another interleave operation, and then performing the auxiliary feeding operation of a next recording portion at the stage that the dots corresponding to the head width are filled. For example, for N=15 and K=4, the main scanning operation is performed at four times by 1-dot line feeding, and the last fourth main scanning operation is performed by 47-dot line feeding. In such an interleave operation, the interval of the last recording dots is determined by the pitch of the auxiliary scan feeding operation, and the recording operation in which the interval is narrowed in accordance with the nozzle interval of the head can be performed, and thus this is effective to high densification.
Further, Japanese Laid-open Patent Application No. Hei-06-127032 (JP-A-06 127032) discloses a method of setting the auxiliary scan feed amount to two types of P dots and S dots to perform an interleave operation, whereby the problems which occur due to the construction as described above can be solved.
However, the above-described printer apparatuses have the following problems, and a further improvement has been required. In the case of the printer apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. Hei-03-76226 (JP-B-03 76226), the displacement amount between the respective heads must be set to positive integer times of the nozzle number (N). Therefore, in a recent printer head having many nozzles, the overall displacement amount of four color heads in the auxiliary scan direction is greatly increased, and thus there is a problem that a carriage on which the printer head is mounted is larger.
Further, an ineffective recording area in the auxiliary scan direction is extended to a broad range, and thus a print time is long.
Still further, in the case of the method of performing the auxiliary feeding operation of a next recording portion at the stage that the dots corresponding to the head width are filled, the print is performed by the same nozzle over plural scan lines, and thus there is a problem that dispersion in the jet characteristic of respective nozzles is conspicuous.
Still further, in the case of the method disclosed in Japanese Laid-open Patent Application No. Hei-06-127032 (JP-A-06 127032), the print order for a pixel is varied every scanning line, so that the color reproduction characteristic may be varied every scan line. The color reproduction characteristic is varied in accordance with the characteristic of ink (for example, dye or pigment), the characteristic of the surface of recording sheet (for example, sheet quality such as exclusively used sheets, plain sheets, recycle sheets, OHP sheets, etc.), and the mutual relation therebetween (for example, ink is liable to ooze into recording sheet).